“So when do they tow it? Also, this dog.”

This car had been sitting behind my house clearly a abandon for months. As you can tell by the stack of tickets, the city clearly knows that it’s here. So when do they tow it? I assume there’s a good chance it’s stolen and someone is looking for it.

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From 311’s app/website, under the heading “Abandoned Vehicle – On Public Property.” “Please use this service request to request the removal of vehicles on public property. Please note that some under some circumstances, including when vehicles have been reported stolen, specific legal processing may be required before removal is possible. If the vehicle is determined to be dangerous by the Department of Public Works, it may be immediately ticketed and towed. Reports of abandoned vehicles are resolved within 13 days, if the vehicle is indeed located on public space.”

Not true. A private tow company will tow cars without the owner’s consent from private property, such as when a car is parked in someone else’s parking space (still requires a ticket though). This vehicle appears to be on public property (an alley).

An “Abandoned vehicle” is any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer that is left, parked or stored on public space for more than 48 hours or on private property for more than 30 days, and to which at least two (2) of the following apply:

(A) The vehicle is extensively damaged, including fire damage
(B) The vehicle is apparently inoperable, including a vehicle missing its transmission, motor, or one or more tires, and which is not undergoing emergency repair;
(C) The vehicle serves as harborage for rats, vermin, and other pests; or
(D) The vehicle does not display valid tags or a valid registration sticker.

Just being left in place for months is not sufficient. Years ago, a car could be left parked for no more than 72 hours, but that law was rescinded, and now there is no limit. I’ve found that one must generally wait for the registration to expire in order to get an abandoned car removed.

This applies to vehicles that are parked or stored in a legally permissible location though. For example, if someone dumps an operable and registered car in your front yard, you wouldn’t have to just leave it there indefinitely until 2 of those criteria kicked in. Likewise if a car is illegally parked in a public alley.

Not really related, but I live on Euclid, and just about every week after the street sweeping we end up with cars on both sides of the road, restricting traffic to one lane and making the already excitable drivers that use our street even angrier.
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The DPW trucks are great about grabbing cars that are left on the street sweeping side day of, but seem to do nothing about cars left on the alternate side the day after.